


Alone Together

by Friendlylycanthrope



Series: Let's Talk About It [20]
Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Bumped up the rating for foul language, Catra Redemption, F/F, Swearing, Yes they will finally bond, blood warning, more tags to be added with more chapters
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-27
Updated: 2020-05-28
Packaged: 2021-03-03 02:27:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 16,651
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24397297
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Friendlylycanthrope/pseuds/Friendlylycanthrope
Summary: Adora is going to be away for a while. Hopefully Catra and Glimmer can get along on their own. And then, maybe learning more about each other. Getting closer.
Relationships: Background Glimmer/Adora, Glimmer/Catra, Past Adora/Catra
Series: Let's Talk About It [20]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1714624
Comments: 14
Kudos: 93





	1. Chapter 1

  
  


It was fourteen months into Catra’s project, and so far everything was going perfectly without any problems. Of course, Catra was never one to fully relax, and the ease of her mission only made her feel suspicious that it would all come crashing down.

She spent hours and hours, every day, planning for the next move. She coordinated with all the princesses in order to discreetly move her goods. She checked countless maps and charts and calendars so that she could meet up with Scorpia without risking either of them getting caught. She prepared and printed pamphlets that debunked the horde propaganda. She kept calculations and tallies of the shipments and recruits, the people she could trust in the horde, did math on space they needed and cost of supplies. She organized the building of the camp that the cadets would soon inhabit, insisting on more things that needed to be done before they could call it a day. After all, just because they would all be soldiers used to living with the harsh elements didn’t mean that they all had to sleep in shared tents. They built bath houses, prepared a public office building, made a library off of donations and prepared a hospital, set up a wall around the camp so that they would feel safe out of their comfort zone.

Catra was thriving.

She was in her element, by taking command of a situation and moving dozens of moving pieces in an elegant display of leadership and competence. It soon became clear to all the princesses and generals in the rebellion that Catra was meant for this, she was so naturally adept at planning ahead and anticipating every possible need. She learned the strengths and preferences of all the princesses, so that she could work with them even more efficiently. And best of all, it was the long game. The progress that she made towards her goal was slow and steady, which meant that it rarely if ever interfered with the attacks and defenses of the rebellion. They were able to continue deploying She-Ra to fight the horde, the princesses were able to defend their territory, and Hordak thought that it was all business as usual, not even thinking that there was a seed of mutiny spread throughout the ranks of his own army. 

Catra was flourishing. 

She was respected and trusted. She was happy. Adora kept dating Glimmer, and they were all able to remain friends that actually cared for each other, rather than fear like in the horde. Even Scorpia could tell that Catra was doing well for herself, which made her more than happy beyond relief. Finally, she was getting the validation and camaraderie that she deserved to be happy. 

Thousands of people wanted to defect. It was actually easier to convince the adults than the younger cadets. They had nursery maids willing to bring all the little ones in their care with them to a better place. They had mechanics willing to juice up a fleet of skiffs for their escape while sabotaging any unnecessary ones so that they wouldn’t be followed. She had the camp almost ready to receive the new recruits. The rebellion was in better shape than ever before now that they had the horde’s top strategist working for them. Everything was falling into place, and they would be ready to move soon, any day now. 

Which is exactly what she told the assembled war council (they insisted on being called the Princess Alliance, but whatever). It had been a while now that she had been with the rebellion, she attended the regular meetings and was even deployed on missions. They had all gotten the opportunity to see her in action in person. The way she fought, the way she moved, the way she seemed to complete some second half of a whole fighting routine with Adora that they hadn’t realized they were missing before. Adora and Catra became lethal on the battlefield together. Catra would vault off of She-Ra’s shoulders like a springboard to gain some air, and cover her six like it was an old routine that they had down in muscle memory, how to perfectly pivot at the right time and fight back to back, Catra perfectly ducking She-Ra’s hefty blows and Adora somehow knowing where Catra was behind her just out of a well recognized habit. It was a thing of beauty. 

Then, there was how well they worked together like missing pieces of a puzzle off the battlefield. Catra helped every member of the alliance with strategies, went over cost analysis with the Queen, discussed weaponry and technology with Bow, and discussed matters of diplomacy easily with Glimmer. Everyone soon saw her worth and kept a casual friendship open with Catra as time went on. They saw her as a natural member of their friend group as well as a more than beneficial ally. 

Which is why Catra wanted to really prove herself by pulling the trigger on her project. She was anxious about it working, eager to prove herself after her last large-scale project (her coup on Hordak) had ended up being such a failure. But before she told the alliance, she told Adora and the best friend squad, as she found herself assimilated to them and their group at times. 

They were hanging out in Glimmer’s room after dinner. Adora was sharpening her sword while Catra played chess with Bow, Glimmer was going over some letters of small importance. 

“I think we’re ready to move on the Horde mutiny.” She said more casually than she felt. Adora picked up on it, knowing those subtle hints that gave her away better than the other two knew her. But she couldn’t hold that against them.

“Really?” Glimmer hadn’t tried to sound so excited about it, but she had, and her eyes had stars in them like a kid on Christmas.

“It’s a big move. We’ll have to let the whole alliance know so that we can bring the full force of the rebellion.” Bow said, as he moved his bishop into position.

“What was the last head count? When did you last talk to Scorpia?” Glimmer eagerly cut in once again. 

“We were able to meet up recently, right after the last Princess meeting.” She picked up a piece and moved it along the board. “We’re just under twenty thousand volunteers. Roughly. Your move, Bowseph.”

Bow gave up trying to end that nickname a long time ago, insisting that it was not his actual name. But when it caught on, well, it caught on. 

“Everything is in place. I just need to rally up the forces and give the signal, and we’re ready to move.” Catra folded her fingers together in front of her mouth with her elbows on the table. She looked down at the pieces with a calculating look. 

“We might need to wait.” Adora said quietly. They hadn’t seemed to notice that the sound of soft metallic scraping had ceased over the whetstone. “I’m going to have to be away for a bit. On a She-Ra mission.”

The other two looked sad and confused, but Catra didn’t bother to hold back a groan as she rolled her eyes. She stood up and walked to Adora, swinging her tail around.

“Don’t tell me you have more dumb spiders to beat at the temple! This is a big move!” She said in feigned exasperation. 

“It’s not that, really.” Adora defended, sounding guilty. “I was going to tell you guys tonight. But Light Hope thinks I’m ready for some kind of test. And if I pass, I can understand and unlock more of She-Ra powers. But it could take a few days.”

Of course, she should have seen it coming. First she didn’t finish her meal at dinner--highly unusual for Adora’s appetite-- and then she was sharpening and cleaning the sword, of course she was preparing for a test. She did the same thing when she got nervous about the DOB exams back in the Fright Zone, the anxiety would make her stomach twist up. And then she would keep double and triple checking all her equipment ten times over. 

“But can’t it wait?” Catra pleaded. “Not that I don’t want She-Ra with more powers on our side for the coming fight, but I’ve been working on this project for a long time now. Can’t you put it off a few days?” 

Adora stood up and gave the sword a test swing in the air.

“No. It has to be while the moon of enchantment is aligned with the moon of illusion but while the moon of light isn’t present. So if I don’t go now, I’ll have to wait another eight years.” She put the sword on her back and sighed. 

“Well, how long will you be gone?” Glimmer asked. Adora seemed hesitant to answer, and the reluctant reply gave the reason. 

“It could take a few days at least... maybe longer.” She said. “Light Hope says it depends on how I do in the test simulation. But it won’t be normal fighting. I don’t know what it is, only that it’ll be mentally challenging and if I pass, I can be a better She-Ra.” Catra again groaned, rubbing the heels of her hands into her eyelids. 

“Great. A mental test. You could be gone for weeks or more!” She sat defeated on the window seat. “Whatever, it’s fine. I’ll just have to let my contact know we have to wait a while longer.”

“I’m sorry, Catra. I wish it was easier. But this is something I really need to do.”

“I’m more worried about this test. What kind of test takes that long to go through? Are you sure you’re going to be okay?” Glimmer asked, all the vigour gone from her expression. “We could back you up,”

“No, it needs to be me alone.” Adora insisted. “Light Hope said anything else would be invalid.”

“So... when are you going?” Bow asked. 

“Tomorrow after breakfast.”

  
  
  
  
  
  
  


**_Day One._ **

  
  
  
  


“But you do know where she is, right?” The taller woman stood tall over Catra, but neither cared. Catra was certainly annoyed, but not at her accomplice. She rolled her eyes.

“That’s classified... I don’t want it to get into the wrong hands.” Catra said. “Not that I don’t trust you and your claws.”

“No, I know that. You’re always careful. I was just thinking that if there was any trouble, she might need some help.”

“Leave that to me. I just need to make sure that the horde doesn’t get wind that She-Ra will be unavailable for a while. I’m thinking some kind of distraction, something where a regular army could beat the horde without She-Ra so that they can go lick their wounds before they realize. Did you ship out the tenth regiment?”

“Absolutely!” Scorpia held her tail up high with pride. “I convinced Hordak that with all these losses we would need more boots on the ground, so we accelerated the cadets on a fast track to get shipped out. He doesn’t even realize how vulnerable this leaves him with the forces spread so thin.”

This succeeded in bringing a smile to Catra’s face. She crossed her arms and squinted at the map she brought.

“So where are they?”

“I believe it was Base 51 Delta Niner.” Scorpia reported, then indicated it with her claw. 

“Okay, so they have no backup and they’re undertrained.” Catra smiled. “We can win the base back easily. But we have to use non-lethals, they’re only kids.” Scorpia smiled too, and looked away shyly. Catra noticed it. 

“What is it?”

“It’s just, you’re really good at this. Nobody gets hurt, everybody wins... you’re so thoughtful about everything. You may save their lives. It’s just one of the many great things about you.”

“Aw come on, Scorps! You know I hate it when you get all introspective like that--”

“I know, I know! But it doesn’t change the fact that it’s true.” They both laughed while Catra playfully elbowed Scorpia in the ribs. 

“Okay. So that should keep us on track for a few days.” Catra said. “How is everybody back in the Fright Zone?” Even though her only healing happened after she had left the ranks, she worried about the old bridges she had burned. 

“Entrapta hasn’t been working with Hordak for a while now! They each stay in their own labs ever since the last time he lashed out over the Battle of Elberon. She was pissed off, now she only tinkers with robots.”

“Oh man. I mean, is she okay? Is she hurt?”

“Only emotionally. Lab partners are not to be reckoned with. We still have our post-battle-desserts though. Oh! I saved a mini pie for you!” She handed Catra a cupcake wrapped in foil. “It’s like a cupcake which is a smaller cake, but for pie instead!”

“What kind is it?”

“Key lime.”

“With the fruit shipments?”

“You betchya! I know they’re feeding you at the castle, but you could still use a bit more flesh on those bones, you know wildcat? Especially for that time you were living in the woods, skinny as a rake.”

“Yeah yeah, whatever, you sound like the Queen.”

“How are you two getting along?”

“With the royal majesty of courtesy and manners? She hasn’t had to bail me out of jail yet, but there’s still time.”

“What about the others. Adora?”

Catra’s ears turned backwards slightly, showing the apprehension that she was trying to hide. 

“It’s... okay. We’ve been on missions together and that’s been fine, that’s all that matters.”

“That is  _ not _ all that matters.” Scorpia insisted softly. 

“Well now that she’s going on her stupid thing, I’m stuck with her girlfriend.”

“Is that why you wanted to meet up on such short notice?”

“I’m not saying that I’m scared of her or anything!” Catra blushed and spoke a little too quickly, only making a stronger case against herself. “I’m just worried that she’ll treat me differently when Adora isn’t around,”

“You are! You are totally scared of her!”

“I am not!”

“Oh what is she, like five three?”

“Scorpia!”

But Scorpia was laughing too hard to let any more conversation pass. 

  
  


***

  
  


**_Day Two._ **

  
  


Catra woke early, usually as early as Adora. The difference that was key was that she refused to do the insane workout that Adora participated in, and just went back to sleep again. Even without the presence of their drill sergeant, she found herself anxiously awake when the morning moon rose. Normally, she would just rolll over and go back to sleep. 

But today was different. Adora wasn’t at the head of the bed that she slept at. It felt familiar, but all the same, made her feel vulnerable. Too many nights after Adora had left the horde had found Catra cold and tired, longing for the object of her detest. 

It was still a purple sky of dawn outside. Thank goodness the sky was clear rather than stormy. Storms and nighttime were when her anxiety was the worst. And for no apparent reason, there was panic in her abdomen that refused to settle. 

Glimmer, on the other hand, was a heavy sleeper. And a late sleeper. She tried to wake with Adora at times, she really did, hoping to get into a healthier routine. But her soft bed would always be there to call her back. 

Catra liked high up places. She liked soft beds, unlike Adora who preferred a hard cot. And in her defense, the princess raised no objection when she murmured gently and scooted over to make room for Catra. She made no protest. Until she actually woke up. 

When she woke up, she yelled out in surprise at the dark, furry, pile next to her. A second later, her mind woke up, and realized that the scary blob was actually Catra, who woke with a gasp and clutched her chest. All her fur was fluffed out in alarm.

“Catra!” Glimmer said with alarm, but at least she wasn’t yelling anymore. “When did you get here!”

“Geez, Sparkles!” Catra tried to smooth down her fur. “Chill out, it’s just me!”

Then Glimmer remembered who she was talking to. She knew that Catra had usually slept in Adora’s room, and before that back in the Fright Zone, they shared a bed. It was obviously something she thought of as a relationship between friends, to sleep near others.

“Ah, I’m sorry. Let me start over.” Glimmer said, trying to comb her fingers through her hair to get rid of the bedhead. “I guess I just didn’t realize when you came in is all. Did you get lonely or..?”

“This giant drafty castle is cold as hell.” Catra stated. “But whatever, I’ll just grab some extra blankets next time.”

“No!” Glimmer realized as soon as she had said it, that she had said it alarmingly fast and urgent. “I mean... it’s fine, totally cool. Adora comes in here all the time, and I kind of miss the company.”

Catra was quiet for a while as she sized Glimmer up doubtfully. 

“Uh. Yeah, me too...” she admitted in a whisper as she headed towards the edge of the bed to leave.

  
  
  
  
  


**_Day three._ ** __

  
  
  


“Hey Bow?” Glimmer asked. 

“Let me guess.” He didn’t look up from the work table in front of him, where he used enhancing goggles to look at some salvaged tech. “You’re worried about Adora.”

“I mean yeah, obviously.” She said with barely disguised annoyance at how transparent she was. “Aren’t you?”

“Of course.” Bow agreed, slipping his goggles up so that he could look through his toolbox for the proper instrument. “I always do. But you gotta have faith in her to come through okay. Otherwise you might be accused of underestimating her.” He flipped the goggles back down. 

“I was actually going to ask you about something else before you sidetracked me.”

“Oh?”

“It’s about Catra.”

“Oh.”

“What?”

“Nothing.” Bow flipped up his goggles again and rested his elbows on the table, looking at his oldest friend. “It’s just, I was worried when she first came here that you might feel... threatened? But then she joined the best friend squad, and everything seemed under control. Did something happen?”

“No it’s nothing like that.” Glimmer insisted, shaking her head. “I don’t really know.”

“No, come on, tell me.” He insisted. 

“I guess I was just wondering. I mean, we know she has anxiety similar to Adora’s. Right?”

“Right, of course. They grew up together.”

“Right. And when Adora first came here, she didn’t like sleeping alone.”

“Yeah, she still doesn’t.”

“So has Catra ever asked to sleep around you?”

“Oh, I see the connection now.” Bow leaned back and gazed into the distance thoughtfully, trying hard to think of any such instances. 

“I mean, there was one time we both fell asleep on the couch together because we were playing video games all night. But that was accidental. Other than that, not really.”

Glimmer rested her chin in her hand and put her elbow on the table. 

“I think that Adora being gone for so long is getting to everybody.” Bow advised, looking back at his work. “Usually for missions it’s never more than a day or two. But I’m sure she’ll be back before you know it. And everything can go back to normal.”

  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Catra comes down with a bad case of the stabses. They fight, then they make up.

**_Day Four._ ** __

  
  
  


The battle went well, with a full retreat from the 51st Delta Niner base. Since it was a newly established base camp, it was already a skeleton crew as well as a barely weaponized area. If anything else, it was really just a poor excuse for a campsite where the rebellion could claim that was reclaimed by the border. 

Catra had pulled up her hood and went into the camp under the cover of dark the night before. By dawn, she moved into the security tower and disabled the alarms and communication. At the same time, Bow took out the turrets with his arrows from a safe point. By then the soldiers stationed there were aware of the threat, but unable to fire back or raise the alarm, so Glimmer led in the rebellion forces to seize the fortress.

The abandonment of the fortress was over by midday. 

Glimmer looked over the grassland, the valley they were in was buzzing with movement. Her eyes scanned the crowd for familiar faces, and relieved that she found them upright, rather than lying down in the mud with the injured. General Abner jogged up to her and removed her helmet, then bowed to the Princess. 

“Your Highness. All the fortress’s forces have evacuated. There are wounded on both sides, but no fatalities.”

“Okay, cool,” She responded a little unprofessionally, eyeing over the field. “We should take the wounded on both sides. And if you find Catra or Bow, send them to me so I can get their reports.”  _ So I know they’re okay. _

“Right away, your highness.”

  
  


***

  
  


It wasn’t long before a medical tent was set up, large enough to lay out straw mats across the floor to accommodate the several dozens of wounded rebellion and horde soldiers. Field doctors hovered around various patients, attending to light and mild injuries. Compared to how some of their worst battles went, they had gotten off easily on this one. 

“Hey, Glimmer, over here!” Bow’s voice called out to the princess, and she scanned the small crowd for the familiar face until she landed on Bow, sitting on a mat being attended to by Catra. She was wrapping his upper arm with bandages, and didn’t look up when Glimmer teleported through the crowd to them.

“Bow, are you alright?”

“Yeah, just a bit of recoil from a stun baton.” He assured her with a smile. 

“I’m not sure if it was malfunctioning or if you forgot which end was the business end.” Catra commented sarcastically. “Alright, I think you’ll live. I’m going to help the medics with the others.” She declared as she tied off the end of the bandage. 

“Do you know what you’re doing?” Glimmer asked. 

“Oh yeah, it’s all basic surface level stuff, nothing too serious. All you gotta do is stop the bleeding and wrap it up. We had this kind of stuff all the time after training when we were kids. Cadets always learn to take care of themselves rather than take the risk. Heh, I had to patch up Adora uh,  _ a lot _ .”

Glimmer remembered what Catra had told her when Adora was avoiding the infirmary. The incident had brought Catra to them in the castle for good, but had revealed dark truths about care in the horde. She watched as Catra scanned the four rows and ten columns of mats that were laid out in the massive tent, looking for where she was most needed. Then she settled on a horde soldier nearby and removed their helmet for them.

“Let me help you, you hit your head pretty hard.” She said, putting the helmet aside. “Now, how many fingers am I-- wait, Amanda?”

The soldier’s eyes rested on Catra, and went wide as her brows furrowed with hatred.

“Catra? What are you doing here?” She spat. Glimmer watched with curiosity. 

“Don’t worry about that, we aren’t going to take you prisoner. Did you get stun gun or electrocution?” Catra started to inspect the wound, but the soldier, Amanda, squirmed away and swatted at her hands. This didn’t stop Catra from removing the plackart so that she could begin to dress it. “Are you still with Mindy? How’s the squad.” Catra seemed unperturbed by the resistance.

“Like you care!” Amanda said through gritted teeth. “You’re a traitor!”

“Hey, that traitor is trying to help you.” Glimmer protested. Catra withdrew her hands momentarily so that she could peel and tear some medical tape to keep the gauze down. 

“It’s fine, Glitter. I get this all the time. It’s not like we were really that close.” There was a defeated look in her eyes, a tired look that told she was going to keep trying even though she knew exactly what would happen. Glimmer had no idea how many times she had needed to face this type of outburst before, but it suddenly became clear that this wasn’t the first time. Just like Adora, who had felt guilt after leaving the horde, after leaving her whole life behind, Catra was faced with the same responsibility. 

Glimmer was about to protest in her defense more, but then Catra’s eyes went wide as her pupil narrowed in shock. She looked down and Glimmer followed her gaze, to find that an army knife was sticking out of Catra’s side. Glimmer gasped and went pale as blood trickled faster out of the wound, but Catra hardly flinched. 

“You’re a  _ traitor! _ You half-formed bucket of radiating goblin puss--” more expletives that would have made the Queen go pale gushed forward from the increasingly furious soldier.

“Okay, see now that is just rude.” Catra said calmly to Amanda. 

“ _ Catra! _ ” Glimmer teleported rather unnecessarily to Catra’s side. Still, Catra hardly reacted to the wound, even as blood stained half of her shirt. She acted fast, and grabbed Catra’s shoulders to teleport her to the other end of the tent. She put Catra’s arm around her shoulders, and supported her back, as she led her towards a doctor.

“Help!” She called. “This takes top priority! Bow, Renee, make sure that all the horde soldiers are unarmed!” She instructed the medics as Catra lay down on a straw mat. Glimmer realized that she wasn’t arguing or making jokes, which meant it must have been more serious than she thought. Catra propped herself up on her elbows while the medics fetched the tools they needed. She pointed at the knife handle sticking out of her side and smiled. 

“So do I get to keep this, or?” 

Okay, so she wasn’t totally panicked if she could still make jokes. 

  
  


***

  
  


“Sparkles it’s fine. It didn’t even hit any organs, so it was all good.” Catra insisted. She sat with her legs crossed while the princess stood before her, adamant. 

“You got stabbed, that is never ‘all good’. In any circumstances. And it didn’t hit any organs but it did hit a major artery and you lost a ton of blood. So no. I’m not letting you go back to work on the others who would just as soon stab you some more.” She couldn’t hide the protective concern over Catra from her voice. “Now. I’m not going to ask again: what. Is. your. Blood type.”

Catra leaned back on one arm and shrugged. 

“Red?”

“How do you not know your blood type!”

“I never needed it before!”

“Okay fine. It’s fine. Look, you just need to rest, okay? We’re preparing the first round of ready and able to return to castle Bright moon. Me and Bow are going, you are going to come too, then we can all just get some rest.”

“Whatever.”

“How can you be so flippant? This could have been way more serious, and you didn’t even need any anesthesia!” 

“What can I say, I always land on my feet.” Catra smiled and winked. Glimmer just huffed and walked away. For someone who she should be more worried about and protecting from the horde, she was getting more annoyed at her. 

  
  


***

  
  


Okay, maybe she was overdoing it. Catra felt her head spinning as she rubbed her arms for warmth against a nonexistent chill. She could feel her heart rate picking up within her chest, but it felt weak when she put a finger to her wrist or neck to check when Glimmer wasn’t looking. 

But the last thing she wanted to do was admit defeat. 

At first, she genuinely didn’t think much of it--she had been stabbed before, and the sight of blood had become numb to her. At first she was genuinely able to push away the pain due to the adrenaline rush to get it taken care of, but now it ached and throbbed with a vengeance. 

But then it got such a rise out of the best friend squad, she had to keep going and being more dramatic about it at every turn just out of spite. At this point it was entertaining to see how riled up she could get the princess to react, knowing that she was totally safe within the “you can’t hit me, I’m injured~” excuse.

So, she fought the urge to sit down and clutch her aching side, and kept walking around the infirmary to deliver bandages and sutures where they were needed. But she could still feel Bow and Glimmer watching her carefully. She pretended not to notice how she was being followed.

She cursed under her breath when she wobbled into a cot and almost tripped. Her vision was getting blurrier from the growing pain radiating from her wound, throbbing in her mind and at the edges of her vision. It felt like the knife was still embedded in her side, eating at her flesh.

She sat on a stool next to a cot where someone was sleeping off a concussion, and pretended to check over him while she was actually focused on the conversation across the room. Bow was talking to the Queen, and they were casting glances over at her. Black spots danced in her vision. 

It wasn’t long before the entourage--Bow, Glimmer, and the Queen-- made their way purposefully to Catra. She stood up to greet them, and stopped her teeth from chattering by clamping her jaw tightly shut. 

“Looks like zero killed.” She reported with a half hearted salute. “No fatalities, and all the injuries should be treatable.”

“Catra.” The Queen said, clasping her hands together. “I understand you were also injured in the battle.”

“Psh!” Catra waved a hand dismissively. “It wasn’t even  _ in _ the battle. By the way, did you see that knife? Technically I get to keep it now, right? I think that’s fair.”

“Catra based on the blood you lost, you desperately need to rest and get more fluids before something happens.” Bow urged. “Without a transfer, you could go into shock, or worse.”

“We appreciate the help you have provided during the battle and afterwards for these hurt people, but your injury was pretty bad compared to all these small potatoes.” Glimmer put in.

“Oh please, if I got this over in the horde, they would  _ still _ have me doing daily laps. Do you guys take every cut and scrape so seriously?” 

Glimmer sighed, then looked up to her mother. The Queen met her eye with a stern look, and nodded. At the signal of approval, Glimmer teleported away, then reappeared an instant later, holding a teacup. She held it forward.

“At least have some tea.” Glimmer said. “It’ll help. You need fluids.” 

Catra took the steaming cup in a slightly trembling hand, and drank it all in one swig like a shot. Her face instantly turned sour with disgust like she had sucked a lemon.

“Blech! You guys and your tea, it doesn’t even taste good!”

“Don’t worry, it should kick in soon.” Glimmer deadpanned. 

“What should be kicking in.” Catra said with worry, her ears pointed forward. “Glimmer? What did you say?”

“Just give it a sec,”

“Glimmer, what is going to ki--”

And then, Catra hit the floor.

  
  
  
  
  


**Day ???**

Catra’s mind was blurred somewhere between sleep and reality. She couldn’t move much, or open her eyes, but she heard some things around her. She knew that she was somewhere comfortable, but otherwise felt totally numb. It wasn’t unpleasant. In fact, it was rather peaceful, floating around in clouds of sleep. 

Then there would be periods where she dreamt, vividly. And then forget as soon as it ended. Or there were periods where, like now, she heard those around her while asleep, floating in some comfortable and warm dark space.

“Hey, I brought you some food.”

“Thanks, Bow.”

“Still out like a light, huh?”

“Yeah. She finally seems to be pretty peaceful.”

There were the sounds of a fork scraping and tapping along a plate, and silence for a moment while Glimmer ate and Bow pulled up a chair.

“Have you been here this whole time?”

“Yeah, I guess I was worried.”

“About Catra? I mean come on, if her prickly personality wasn’t enough, she’s tough as nails.”

“Well I can’t help it.” Glimmer defended. “She’s been through enough already, you know? She deserves some rest.”

“Well you know what they say.. War is a terrible time to grow up in.”

“I guess I never realized... I don’t know. I mean, I know what Adora went through when she defected. But I’m not as close as Catra and I guess we just didn’t know what she was leaving behind, what she was risking. And because of it, she got hurt. By someone who probably used to be their friend...”

“Well, we can’t be prepared for every thing that's ever gonna happen.” Bow defended.

“I know...” Glimmer said sadly, and some of the eating sounds stopped for a moment. “I mean, I expected similar to Adora, but they really are just so different. And I guess I just... wish I could be prepared for that at least...” There was a pause in the conversation. “That, and I really miss Adora... I feel like this might be easier if she were here. And I hope she’s okay...”

“She’ll be back soon. I can feel it.”

Then, her mind wandered off again into peaceful sleep. She dreamt of math class in the horde. 

  
  


***

  
  


This time, Catra was able to hear the Queen of Bright Moon, and feel warming light on her fur. She could hear the voices for quite some time before she was able to register what they were saying. 

“She is stubborn. But her heart is in the right place.”

“Still, it wasn’t her fault. We should have been disarming the injured soldiers.” Glimmer defended. “Come on, if anyone should get punished here, its me. I was the commander on site, you can’t blame her.”

“Are you asking for me to blame something on you and yell at you? That’s certainly a change...” Angella remarked a little teasingly. “But there is no need for that. I shall let this slide by given how well the battle went.” She paused, and when she spoke again, her voice sounded closer to Catra than it had been before. “Hmm. Well if the Fright Zone continues to produce fine rebels like Adora and Catra, then I should be remiss to put them out of business.”

“Well, that’s the idea.” Glimmer told her mother, stepping closer to Catra. She could only tell because she seemed to be getting louder in her mind. “If this project that she’s working on can pull through.”

“And I sincerely hope it does.” Her mother agreed. “For the sake of those young cadets, a terrible way to grow up. Speaking of which, Glimmer, have you been getting any rest?”

“Well, I’m not a child. So. Jot that down.” Glimmer said with that usual huff of annoyance returning to her tone. “I just need to keep an eye on her for a while. And preferably be there when she wakes up.”

“Of course. As long as you also take care of yourself and your other duties.”

Catra wondered with half of her wandering brain why the Queen had a fancy accent but her daughter didn’t. Was the accent supposed to come in puberty or something? The others kept talking. She could hear their voice, their tone, but couldn’t seem to make out any words. So, she fell back to sleep. 

  
  


***

  
  


It only seemed like a blink before she heard voices again. Had time passed without her realizing? The warmth of the day moon was gone, but replaced with a soft blanket wrapped around her.

“Oh, hey Renee. Sorry I haven’t been around much, I’ve been busy.”

“Understood, your highness. I investigated around the infirmary and heard that Catra wanted to keep this. I found it in the hazardous waste disposal.”

Glimmer laughed. That cheerful bubbly sound filled Catra’s senses, and brought her comfort and delight, and she forgot the numbness over her limbs to absorb that sound.

“I was hoping she would forget. But I’m sure she’ll appreciate it. Thanks, Renee.”

“Well, it’s sound logic. You get stabbed, it’s a free knife. I admire her spirit. Even if she can be stubborn. She reminds me of Ingrid.” Catra could hear the smile spreading across the general’s face. 

“And how is your family doing?”

“Lenore wants a long sword for her birthday. I told her she has to wait until she is taller than a long sword first.”

They continued the happy chat, and soon Catra became bored and fell asleep again. 

***

The next time was clearly and palpably different somehow. All of a sudden her mind was no longer swimming, and she felt more perception of where she was and the pain in her body all anew as though waking up from a dream of pain. She had to take a few steady breathes to ease the mental acuity whiplash before rubbing her eyes open.

She was in Glimmer’s room, they had turned the window seat into a soft bed for her, covered in pillows and blankets. There was a soft red light above her, that she couldn’t quite make out. But she started to realize that the light wasn’t natural, nor was it from the morning light of the window beside her. And it was spinning?

She rubbed her eyes and squinted blearily above her once again. As soon as she recognized the magical glyphs, she screamed in terror, and swiped at the apparition, then tumbled out of her bed onto the floor, where she scrambled away backwards. She felt her heart beating at her ribs and heard the blood rush in her ears, tried to kick free of the blankets with her shaking limbs, as she continued to pour out a stream of wild expletives. The glyphs seemed to sync with her movements, inching forward with every inch she tried to back away, hovering near her body. 

“Catra!” Glimmer appeared before her in her usual style, leaving pink stardust in her wake. With the window behind her, Catra could only see the silhouette, but she recognized it immediately. Glimmer immediately realized that Catra must have been alarmed by the sigils. She held up two fingers to it and spun her hand counter-clockwise, and the red circle vanished into thin air. 

Catra seemed slightly calmed down, but still frantic as she scrambled backwards even further, even as Glimmer came to help her. She flinched away from her touch, and Glimmer stayed away, a look of concern on her face.

“Catra, it’s okay, you’re safe.” She said, kneeling down in front of her. “It’s okay, it’s just something the healers put up to help you recover. It will help rebuild your---”

“What the  _ Fuck! _ Was that!” She asked, even though her question had just been answered. Glimmer recognized the signs of the panic attack. She usually helped Adora through them, and knew what to do. 

“You’re spiraling into panic, just try to calm down. Focus on your breathing,”

“No, you tell me Glimmer! Tell me what the fuck is going on!”

“It was just a recovery charm, we were trying to help,”

“Help?  _ Help?! _ ” Catra spat. Her hand hit a chair, and she used it to slowly bring herself to her feet. She found that she was barefoot, and in some sort of loose-fitting, soft clothes that she didn’t recognize. Her fur was matted to her own sweat. “No, I am not going anywhere  _ near _ that  _ shit! _ ” She screamed, eyes wild, pointing at where the circle had been a moment ago. Right before Glimmer appeared and... “And you... you were...” She said in a more hushed tone. She remembered Glimmer, controlling the magic, making the circle vanish when Catra hadn’t been able to by swiping at it. “You were...”

“Catra please, you needed to heal, we were only trying to help,” She raised a hand to reach out to her, but Catra backed away further, her eyes panicked at the sight of her hands coming at her, wondering what else she was capable of.

“No-- no, stay away from me!”

And she ran out the door. Glimmer ran out after her, but when she looked down the hallway, the feline was already mysteriously gone. She called out her name but there wasn’t a soul in sight. 

  
  


***

  
  


“Light Hope.” Adora called into the dark. There was no response. There hadn’t been a response for days. “Light Hope! End simulation!”

The darkness of the room was lit only by the gem in the hilt of the sword of protection. It flickered weakly, attuned to Adora’s state. And right now, all she felt was weak. It didn’t help that the light was clouded by the blood that dripped down over the stone from her hand. It was the only thing holding her up, as she kneeled on the floor, leaning her weight on the sword. 

For days now, she had been in hell. A terrible simulation where Light Hope was unavailable, all her friends were gone, and the crystal palace was in ruins, everyone was dead and she was on her own. At some point, Adora didn’t know where the simulation ended and the reality began. It was all becoming too real. Light hope hadn’t responded in so long, and the damage all felt so real. She couldn’t tell if she was still in the simulation or not. 

“Light Hope, please...” She almost cried. She had to escape the temple, at any cost. She didn’t care about the test anymore. She didn’t know if she was still in the test or not. She didn't know if she had escaped, if she had died, or if she was still trapped. She didn't know if something went wrong with the test or if this was part of it. She didn’t care. She needed to escape. “Light Hope, end simulation ... Light hope, if you’re there, please be there...”

For days, she remained trapped in this hostile void. With no end in sight. 

  
  


***

  
  


Glimmer should have known where Catra went. She spoke with Bow and her mother about the update in her condition. She knew the places by now that Catra would go normally. But that was on a good day.

On a good day, Catra liked to go climb somewhere up high to brood, usually the roof. Bow suggested a few spots to check where he usually saw her hanging out. Glimmer growled in frustration when she wasn’t there. 

She should have known right away that Catra would throw herself back into her work. This old habit from being under Hordak, to prove herself and claw out her own place, to obsess over her work. 

Glimmer found the feline standing over a table of maps and charts, her tail lashing in fury with her ears down the back of her head. Her fur bristled and her muscles tensed as she heard Glimmer enter, but she didn’t turn around. 

“How long was I out.” Catra growled almost too low to hear. She didn’t move aside from her tail.

“Two days, Catra.” Glimmer spoke up defiantly. She wouldn’t let Catra control her here, where she had every advantage. Even if the volume of the room was the only control Glimmer had, she would use it to gain more ground. “We need to talk.” She walked around the table so that she could face Catra, but she kept her head down. She jotted a few calculations and notes in the margin of a chart, but otherwise remained still as granite. Catra took a deep breath and steeled herself for a moment. 

“I thought I told you to stay away.”

“I outrank you, General, as your Superior Officer.”

“Which has never been brought up as a problem before.” Catra said as she whirled around and pinned some articles to a board. She furiously grabbed a knife the size of a letter opener out of the board, but Glimmer wasn’t intimidated. 

“Cut the crap, Catra! What is this really about?”

She could see that Catra’s entire body tensed and untensed, writhing muscle under bristling fur as she strained to keep her rage contained. 

“You never  _ mentioned _ before, that you had _sorcereic_ magic.” Catra turned around suddenly and ran the knife into the table. Glimmer saw that her face was streaking wet with tears. “You used magic. You used it on me. When I was helpless to do anything about it!” She suddenly roared. Her limbs shook with the exhaustion of holding her intensity back, unable to keep up the facade anymore. 

“Of course we used magic!” Glimmer shouted back, slamming the table. “You refused to be admitted to traditional medicine! We were saving your life!” Glimmer growled and pulled her hair, pacing around, before pointing at Catra. “Your condition was way worse than you were letting on! If we can’t use medicine and we can’t use magic, then what are we supposed to do!”

“You should have let me die!” Catra cried furiously. The air became pregnant with uncomfortable shock. Glimmer felt like she had been slapped in the face, and she couldn’t respond. “I would sooner _ die! _ Than be anywhere within a mile! Of magic!” She was desperately livid. 

“Catra...” Glimmer whispered, taking a step toward her, but she backed away. Seeing the fear there, she stopped advancing. “Catra we can’t just let you die. That’s not how we do things here. What do you have against letting us help you?”

“It’s not the  _ help _ it’s the  _ magic _ .” Catra emphasized. “Didn’t Adora tell you? It’s the  _ magic _ that I wont go near...”

“But... Adora said it never got too bad back then, not worse than a slap on the wrist at least.” Glimmer said softer, shocked. 

“She had her memories edited. Besides, it was never nearly as bad for  _ her _ !” Catra growled. She turned so that Glimmer could only see her blue eye. “It was always worse for her  _ pet _ ! When she used her red electricity to hold me until it burned into my skin,” She lifted her shirt to show her ribs, with lightning shaped scars. “When she  _ burned me _ for speaking out of turn,” She lifted her pants leg as far as it could go, till she saw the red flesh under the fur, permanently scarred. It went further up, but Catra didn’t show it and Glimmer didn’t see where it ended. “When she  _ tortured me until I confessed _ over something stupid we did cause we were  _ kids _ ,” She lifted up her hair until Glimmer saw lines like ropes across the back of her neck, even under the short hairs that lead to her wild mane. “But the worst!” Catra declared, facing Glimmer again with terror in her eyes. “Was those floating shadows, the invisible sigils, those tentacles that reached out and grabbed me,  _ all the time _ , at every opportunity, pulling me forward, freezing me in place, paralyzing my whole body. I couldn’t  _ blink _ , I couldn’t  _ breath _ , I could feel the blood in my veins just  _ stop in place _ while she held me. Perfectly still.”

Glimmer stood there, with one hand over her mouth in horror, as tears filled her eyes and flowed over the more she watched and listened. Adora had told her that Shadow Weaver had used her magic against them as kids, but she never knew the extent of how bad it was. And it was true, Adora didn’t, couldn’t, recall all the worst of times. Even the things she did remember, she didn't talk about it.

The only time Glimmer had ever seen magic, it was for good reasons. It created mystical light shows, and allowed miracles. It had been used to heal, to save lives. It was used for entertainment, making sparks and firelight. But never before had Glimmer seen someone raise their hand to cast magic in order to harm anyone. 

So that was the difference between them. Catra saw the magical symbols and panicked. It was all she knew, was pain and torture. 

“And you... you  _ used magic _ . You control it.” Catra continued. Her eyes sized up Glimmer fearfully. 

“I... I only, I only wanted to help...” Glimmer whispered. She couldn’t defend herself any more.

“No.” Was all she said at first. “No. I’m a soldier. It’s what I was raised for. It’s what I’m good at. The only way out of this for me is to die on the battlefield. That’s what soldiers _do._ ” she hugged her arms and hunched her shoulders as she turned away. Her fur finally settled down as she shivered once. "I'll never be anything but a soldier anyway. It's the only thing I can do."

“Catra. I had no idea.” Glimmer didn’t know what to do, what to say. She sat down on the floor, causing Catra to turn around just barely. “I can’t say that I understand. Nobody should have to go through what you did.” She sighed and took a deep breath. “I will never use magic on you again. Nobody will.”

“Don’t.”

“What?”

“Don’t do that... make promises.” Catra said, looking off into the distance. “Don’t make a promise that you don’t know if you can keep. I’m tired of it. I’m sick of broken promises.”

This, Glimmer knew about. That was some emotional baggage that she had been working on with Adora for a while. Even though she didn’t know what she remembered, she was certain to remember that defining moment, and how she had broken that promise. 

“Just... get out.” It was so silent that Glimmer hardly heard it. 

“Catra...”

“Please just. Leave me alone”

Glimmer stopped herself from teleporting out. The fewer reminders that the feline had of her magical abilities, the better. She walked out of the room, and closed the door so quietly that Catra would have been able to hear a pin drop. 

  
  
  


***

  
  
  


It was a while after that when Catra realized that her work was going nowhere. And so, with nowhere else to turn. She went to the roof to brood. Her favorite spot was a high tower, with a window that led out onto a flat roof. She could lean back against the tiles of the steep incline of the roof behind her, and feel the day moon when it was setting.

But when she pushed open the window, she looked over and found that she wasn’t alone. Glimmer was there, hugging her knees, the wind lightly tossing her cotton-candy hair. She seemed just as surprised as Catra to find that they weren’t the only ones here.

“Princess,”

“I-I’m sorry, I’ll go,”

“Wait.” Catra climbed out onto the roof with ease, barely touching the window frame. “What are you doing here?”

“I uh... I noticed that you come here to think sometimes.” Glimmer said shyly, trying to push her hair into shape against the wind. “I thought... maybe it could help me think?”

“Oh...” Catra rubbed the back of her neck awkwardly. She felt terrible about what had happened, when she was just starting to think of Glimmer in a safe way. She felt like home. But then, she saw magic following her as she slept, unable to defend herself. “How did you know that I come here?”

Glimmer just pointed down in front of them. Catra leaned over and saw some wood chips stuck in the gutter and floating around the balconies below them. 

“Oh.” She said, leaning back. Glimmer noticed that her posture was still totally guarded. She hugged her knees to her chest and hid half of her face beneath her arms, wrapped her tail around her ankles, and even curled up her toes to close in on herself even more. Her eyes didn’t watch the cloudy moon set on the horizon, but just down at the tiled roof, spacing out to somewhere completely different.

To be fair, Glimmer didn’t watch the moon set either. She watched Catra, who sat several feet away and closed up like a clam. There was so much she wanted to say, but she felt unwelcome here, and wouldn’t know where to start. Would it be best to let Catra start by talking first? But the way her brow furrowed in concern and fear and pain, she was worried that Catra would never trust her again.

“I... I am sorry.” Glimmer said, looking away. “About everything that happened. I didn’t know.”

For several minutes, she thought that Catra wouldn’t respond. Perhaps she hadn’t even heard her, for she gave no indication of moving or responding. The sky started to turn a dusty purple. 

“Me too.” Catra eventually said. 

Glimmer needed to choose her words carefully, knowing how important this was. She took a deep breath to keep from crying. 

“I’m never going to use my magic around you again.” She said. “I can’t promise to protect you from everything, but I can at least promise that. I won’t even teleport around any more if I know that you’re around.”

Catra wrinkled her nose and an angry look came to her eyes. 

“I don’t need protecting.” She said with distaste. “I can take care of myself.”

The conversation paused again, full of uncertainty. They stared at everything but each other thoughtfully. Catra sighed and unwound herself just slightly enough to push her claws through her hair, which was growing longer again, and was almost at her shoulders. 

“I just... don’t trust easily.” Catra said after a while. “It has taken me a long, _l_ _ ong time. _ To learn how to let other people into my life.”

There was so much more she wanted to say. _I feel safe when you’re around, and it isn’t because of your title or your powers, it’s just who you are as a person. I feel safe for the first time in... my life. My whole life I’ve never known safety like this._ _At first I wanted to help you so I could make up for the hurt that I had done to you and your kingdom, but now I want to do it for you. You fight so hard and I want to be better. I want to be worthy of your happiness._

“Catra, you don’t have to apologize. It was my fault.” Glimmer confessed. “I never wanted to hurt you, in any way... You’ve been hurt enough. Which is why it hurts to hear you saying that stuff about dying.” She finally looked over at Catra, guarded up, pleading with her eyes to return the eye contact. “You don’t have to die in this war. We can end it. The whole point of what we’re doing here is to make sure that nobody has to go through that. You aren’t a soldier, Catra.” She half-looked over, her brows coming undone and her ears turning. “You’re a survivor.”

Now she had Catra’s full attention. She looked over, confused and curious. 

“That’s what makes you so strong, Catra. You survived years of war, and decades of that darkness in your past, and you survived. And despite everything, you keep going. You rise up and try to make things better, in any way. Even when you had nothing and no one, you survived and you came back stronger.”

“What, so all this terrible shit that happened is supposed to make me a better person?” Catra said with more distaste. She didn’t like the notion that all her pain was worth it somehow when she would have done fine without any of it. Glimmer’s mind pinwheeled for a moment, trying to backtrack to save the metaphor from turning against her.

“What matters most is that even after all that you went through, you still have an optimistic outlook.”

Catra scoffed.

“Me? An optimist? Have you  _ met  _ me?” Her ears did that curious thing they did, where one side is up and the other is down. Glimmer smiled. 

“Yeah. You’re an optimist because you still try to help. For years now, you’ve been trying to make things better. In the horde, in exile, and here. And that’s what makes you great. That’s what makes you a survivor.”

Catra looked away again, thoughtful. She was trying to connect the dots that Glimmer was laying out for her, as though she had never realized before why she was doing what she’s doing. Obviously nobody else had ever really told her what her own worth was. 

“I’m not going to let you die.” Glimmer confirmed again. “I won’t use magic to do it, so you might need to compromise your stance on modern medicine. Because I can’t lose you.” Catra looked back once again, with surprise on her face. Her posture had slowly been relaxing more and more the whole time. “And in return, no more magic. I don’t know much, so I pretty much never do it. One of the healers gave you the sigil to help transfer some fluids into your blood, I just cancelled it out. But really, from now on, it won’t happen near you. We’ll find another way. Seriously, I won’t even teleport any more, and--”

“Hang on, slow down,” Catra insisted. “Look, Princess powers and stuff from the rune stones or whatever, I can’t ask you to stop that. It’s just those glyphs, the floating signs and stuff.” She clarified. “I’m starting to understand why Adora is more okay with medicine than I remember her being, knowing what the alternative is... doing nothing and pissing you off.”

“If it means not dying, then that’s the price you pay.” Glimmer smiled. 

She wanted to say so much more that she kept to herself.  _ I can’t bear to lose you, you’ve changed my life for the better. You make me want to be a better person. Even knowing your sarcastic attitude is around makes me smile, because it means that you feel safe here, and you deserve to feel safe and loved to make up for all the terrible things you had to go through. You are a bright burning fire of passion and fighting and it’s what makes you so amazing. _

But she didn’t. She knew that she would only end up rambling into things she didn’t mean to say, things that Catra wouldn’t accept as easily as anything else she had already said. For now, it was enough to know that they were okay. They were safe.

By now the sky’s bright peach had faded into cool purples. Catra scooted a little closer and stretched her legs out. Glimmer leaned back and put her hand out in the space between them, resting close to Catra’s. They both looked out at the last of the light disappearing over the horizon, the wind growing gradually cooler against their faces. 

“Okay.” Glimmer said. “So no using magic on you. And you try to stay alive. Deal?”

“Whatever.” Catra said casually. It didn’t sound like much, but it meant that her guard was down again and she was comfortable being aloof once more with Glimmer. 

“Let’s get out of here, it’s getting late.”

“Yeah... plus I feel like I haven’t eaten anything in days, so.”

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't worry Adora is alive. I'm thinking proooooobably one more update? Idk. We'll see. That's a problem for future me. 
> 
> Shoot me a comment with your thoughts, and as usual stay tuned.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Catra struggles with her old fears of abandonment worrying about Adora leaving her behind again... Glimmer comforts her. They develop crushes on each other. 
> 
> Then, at long last, Adora returns. But different.

**Day twelve**

  
  


A few days later, Glimmer was awake in bed, thinking and worrying about Adora. It had been too long now for her to brush it off as normal, something must have been wrong. And for something to go wrong and to have it stop Adora meant a lot; Adora was the toughest, smartest person she knew. Well, maybe not the smartest all the time. Especially when she was standing next to Catra.

Then, her door opened just a sliver, enough to let light spill into the room in parallel lines until it shut again shortly after. Glimmer sat still in bed for a while, waiting for more sound or movement to alert her to who might be in her room if anyone, but it was silent until a light, fuzzy weight settled next to her on the bed. 

At that, she had to sit up and look over, her heart pounding. Could it be Adora? She was the only one to sneak into her bed at night when she was lonely, aside from,

“Catra?” She whispered. 

The dark shape was sitting up, hugging its knees, and turned to look at Glimmer with a bit of surprise. The yellow and blue eyes that glowed back at her were unmistakable. 

“Oh, uh,” She whispered back a little worried, “I uh, didn’t mean to wake you. Sorry, I thought you would be asleep. Um, sorry,”

“No, it’s fine. I was awake anyway.” Glimmer sat up fully and scooted closer to Catra. Catra remained stiff in her spot, looking down at the floor, almost as though she were uncomfortable. As if that would even be possible, floating high above the ground on a plush bed full of pillows and blankets. Her tail wrapped around her ankles and she suppressed a shiver, all the while wondering if Glimmer had night vision like hers that would be able to spot it, wondering if she would even need it to tell that something was off. 

“Did you have a bad dream?” Glimmer whispered. It was no use asking if she was alright. It clearly wasn't and she would clearly deny it, and that would only make an already long night even longer. Catra sighed in resignation, but made no audible answer. 

“I remember when Adora got to Bright Moon, she would come in here all the time.” Gimmer said. “At first she didn’t know how to sleep alone, but then she started getting nightmares.”

The glowing eyes seemed to narrow and look further away, but the look was unreadable. It could have been in contempt, or even guilt. Perhaps she knew exactly what Adora could have been having nightmares about. Maybe Glimmer was reading the situation wrong, but she pressed forward, just as she knew Catra would have the courage to do despite every sign not to. 

“I think that the worst of it, was worrying about you.” Glimmer said. She scooted closer, trying to figure out what Catra was feeling empathetically since she couldn’t see her face. “When you were in the horde, before the whole ridiculous jungle incident. She was trapped in cycles of guilt and terror, mourning like you were already dead, like she had lost her oldest and best friend,”  _ And I was there to pick up the pieces of her broken heart _ she thought. Some of her still remembered that resentment, back when Catra was a villain who broke Adora’s heart. She remembered hating Catra, wanting to hurt her back. So much had changed since then. But that wasn’t what she needed right now. 

“Is this supposed to be helping?” Catra said weakly. And yeah, maybe Catra still felt bad about that part of the past too. Maybe she still kept her distance sometimes when she could have been closer because she knew what she did and the effect it had and now she had to live with it. Maybe she hated that Glimmer was the one who held Adora’s affection, that Glimmer was cleaning up her mistakes. 

“What I’m trying to say,” Glimmer continued. “Is that I’m worried about her too. And I miss her. Maybe you’re worried she’ll leave you again. But I can promise that nothing will stop Adora from getting back to you.”

“What, not you?” Catra scoffed almost incredulously. “I mean come on, you’re her girlfriend.”

Glimmer took a deep breath and leaned back on her hands. 

“Being in love with someone isn’t stronger than the love between others. It’s just different.” She thought back to the first few weeks that Catra started staying at castle Bright Moon. The meeting with Catra about where she and Adora stood, why she really came back. Then they came up with their plan to save the cadets of the Fright Zone. Then there was the talk she had with Adora herself. 

_ “You said once that you loved her.” She blurted out. They stopped walking, and disconnected hands as Adora turned around to face Glimmer. Her face was red and her eyes looked concerned. “Do you think that...” _

_ “I could still love her?” Adora finished. She tried to smile comfortingly at Glimmer. She took a deep breath, and stepped towards her girlfriend. _

“What are you saying?” Catra asked, getting suspicious, or maybe just curious. 

“You aren’t going to be left behind, ever again.” Glimmer comforted. “I don’t think that you’ll believe me or anyone who tells you this, but you are loved, Catra. And that’s okay.”

Some sort of panic came into Catra’s eyes then. She leaned away from Glimmer and for a moment she thought that Catra might refute the claim, but then her eyes started darting around the room in terror. 

“Stop I can’t--you’re her  _ girlfriend _ , you can’t--No, I--” She looked like she was searching for an escape route. Glimmer panicked herself that she was about to lose any progress she had made, and lit up her palm in a ball of light, and with the other she reached out towards Catra.

“Catra wait, don’t go.”

“I--you’re her girlfriend, I can’t be hearing this from you! I can’t get between you-- and have you tell me that, that, that what it’s okay? I can’t--”

She backed away on her hands further, and Glimmer came forward next to her before she could scramble to the exit stairs, not that someone like Catra would need them in order to get down. She took each of Catra’s hands in each of her own. Then she put one of Catra’s hands on her own chest, and one of her hands on Catra’s chest. 

“Catra, look at me. Feel my breathing, follow me, okay?” She instructed quickly. Like she said, Adora had suffered the occasional panic attack or night terror, and she knew what to do. She was only hoping that Catra would trust her enough to guide her through it. 

She inhaled slowly, letting Catra feel her chest rise gradually. Then she inhaled just as gently, keeping her hand over Catra’s to feel how her own breathing matched. Her first attempt came out rugged and close to sobs that she choked on, but they tried again. As many times as it would take. It took several minutes, many deep breaths, before Catra calmed down a bit more. When she regained herself a bit, she still seemed uncomfortable and backed away from Glimmer’s touch.

“Wait, why are you helping me?” Her voice did the high pitched squeak that she hated when she got too emotional. 

“Catra, have you ever considered that maybe you just deserve to be okay?” Glimmer asked a bit bluntly. Sometimes, it was like she had to spell it out for her just like Adora, especially in the beginning. “Don’t you get it?”

“I get that you’re saying that Adora has feelings for me,” She started panicking. “I get that you  _ know _ how I feel about her. I get that I was trying to stay out of things, but I ruined it,” she rambled, her voice cracking more. “I get that you  _ should _ hate me! For everything I’ve done, no matter how much I try to fix it, you can never forgive me! You should hate me for what I did to you, to Adora! I get that something is happening that I never wanted to happen, but I ruined it just like everything else!” Glimmer let her rant, raise her voice, and let her without interruption. She could still see by the dim light of her own magic, reflected in Catra’s beautiful bright eyes, saw that they were filled with tears but that they didn’t spill only because of the hot rage that was coming behind them. Who that rage was directed at, she knew too well. She didn’t move a muscle, knowing that she was safe, and that the only one to blame for Catra’s hatred was herself.

“You didn’t ruin anything.” Glimmer said quietly, after she was sure Catra was done. She sat on the very edge of the bed, panting from her tirade and recovering her breath. “Catra, look at me. I’m not mad at you and I don’t hate you. I think that you must be one of the most amazing people I’ve ever met. I used to hate you, but you’ve changed. And you are changing. Why shouldn’t I give you a chance?”

She willed more of her power to her fingertips, making small glittering lights that traced around the air as she twirled her hand. 

“After all, haven’t I hurt you too?” The magic got brighter and then went out completely like a flame being blown out as Glimmer shut her hand into a fist. 

“I don’t. Understand.” Catra said quietly again. She was desperate for meaning, and hoping to find it in the purple eyes of her lifetime sworn enemy turned reluctant ally turned friend. She didn’t know why she thought that Glimmer would have the answers she was looking for, but it seemed like she had everything else she needed: safety from her enemies. The power to really make a change. The confidence to do it even after hardship. And for some reason, forgiveness.

“I’m saying you don’t need to worry about getting in between me and Adora. I just know that she cares enough to come back, and she’ll never hurt you again.” She reached out and put a hand on Catra’s shoulder, and for once, she relaxed at the soft touch rather than flinching away. Their eyes met as they got closer. “You don’t have to earn the right to be loved. Ever.”

“Look I don’t... it was never my intention to come here and start shit.” She replied, sinking down to laying down in the bed. Having her own mind run laps on end just to fulfill her circular logic was exhausting. “I just thought that I would get some friends out of it for once without screwing it all up like I do every time... I thought I would watch you two get to be happy but I would never get that, just because of the mistake of a person I am. And I was fine with that. I deserve it.”

“You haven’t messed anything up, Catra. You’re an amazing person and a great friend.”

They both listened to the silence of the night for a while. A guard made their rounds down the hallway outside, then vanished again. In the chilled Autumn air, there were no creatures stirring to create that summer cacophony that Adora loved and Catra hated. Just the rattling sound of the wind dragging along the whispering woods.

Glimmer lay down next to Catra, and they were facing each other.

“Catra?”

“Hm?”

“You should know that people... not naming any names... really care about you.”

“I wish I could get them to stop...”

“It’s just this theory that Adora has.”

Some time passed. Glimmer knew now that she felt something for the feline that had crawled into her bed. And all she could think about was what Adora had said, about being able to have more than one real love. It wasn’t stronger or weaker, it was just... different. There was something incredibly powerful about Catra coming here tonight, talking to her, and staying. There used to be a time where she wouldn’t have bothered at all. Glimmer realized that she was starting to become enchanted by Catra and her habits. 

Even more, Catra felt that whatever she felt towards the princess beside her, it was different somehow than what she felt when she thought about Adora. Somehow, it felt real and genuine, perhaps because Glimmer actually let her be vulnerable even after all the bad blood between them. She knew that she would never have to doubt the affection, however slight, from the person who had the most reason to not trust her.

“Do you want to stay here tonight?”

“Can I?”

“You don’t have to ask.”

“I mean it... I really did mean to try and stay out of things.”

“You’re a part of our life now. Which means you get the whole package. Reality check and all.”

“Are you going to tell Adora?”

“Do you want me to?”

“I don’t care, she’s your girlfriend..” Catra mumbled, trying to regain some ground and dignity by asserting her goofy aloofness.

“I won’t tell her.”

“....Thank you.”

Neither of them wanted to be alone that night. And they started to think that they had more in common than they originally thought.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


**Day 15**

Only a few days after their falling out, Catra was back to being a part of the best friend squad with ease again. She learned a few things about getting treatment to avoid the wrath of Glimmer, and found herself back at work with the gang. For now, they were still on cool-down mode while they were waiting for Adora to return. And in truth, it was starting to eat at Glimmer from the inside out, and she relied on the strength from her friends now more than ever. They didn’t talk about what they had discussed the night that they shared together. Glimmer hoped that this would mean Catra took her reality check to heart. 

Right now, she was charging up under the moonstone. Catra hesitated at the entrance to it from the walkway, so far unseen. But eventually she sauntered in with all the aloofness she could muster. 

“Heeeyyy, Glim,” she started. Glimmer sat up and stretched her arms, seemingly coming out of a cat-nap herself. “How are ya doing this morning?” Catra sat next to Glimmer, and stretched out across the table with her hands under her head. 

“Catra, it’s two in the afternoon.” Glimmer corrected with a slight smile.

“It’s  _ my _ morning. Not the  _ day’s _ morning.” Catra yawned, showing off her pointed feline teeth. Glimmer rolled her eyes. 

“I’m doing fine, Catra. You know I don’t need you to check on me.”

“What? I’m genuinely curious about how your day is going! And is there anything you need that I could do for you?”

“What, why? Are you just... bored?”

“No, there’s work to do. I was just wondering, how... I could... support you?” Catra sat up and tried to offer the corniest smile she had ever performed. 

“Ooh, I see.” Glimmer chuckled. “What did you break.”

“Wha--me? Princess!” Catra sputtered for a moment, and feigned an offended look when her hand flew to her chest. “I am  _ offended _ ! I am  _ wounded _ that you would even think to sully my  _ good name _ \--”

“Catra, what did you break.”

“You’ll find out.”

“Hey guys!” Bow called from the walkway. He came in with his tracker pad. “Renee said you’d be out here. Hey, do you know what happened to that window in the throne room?”

Glimmer just looked over at Catra with suspicious eyes, but one eyebrow raised in good humor. Catra smiled and shrugged. Bow paced around the table a bit, a habit to help his mind run when he was working on a problem. 

“Glimmer, where do you keep your stationary? It wasn’t in your desk.”

“Is that what you came to ask?”

“I wanted to send a letter.”

At this, Catra took some interest, and sulked forward to eye Bow carefully, giving him the once over. A mischievous smile lit up her face. 

“Oh... I see. Bowseph has a  _ lover  _ to write to!”

Bow turned red and Glimmer bounced up from the table under the moonstone. 

“I-- I do not! I-- well it’s complicated! It’s just -- It isn’t--” Bow sputtered while Glimmer squealed.

“You want to write a letter, by hand.” Catra pointed out. “It’s way easier to send messages than that. AND you want the good stationary from the princess, _not_ the standardized set with the kingdom letterhead. This is for someone  _ special,  _ something that's not _official kingdom business!_ ”

“MMMMMMM okay Fine!” Bow relented, pushing the two women back with a worried expression. “I am... uh, starting. To court. Sommmeone…” He said awkwardly under the spotlight. 

“Bow!” Glimmer complained. “This is so unfair! I told you about my crush on Adora and you helped to set us up! You have to tell me everything!” Catra cocked her head in curiosity at that. 

“Courting someone? Jeez, is it always so  _ formal _ with you princess types?” She asked.

“Ugh, no. Bow is just avoiding the question.” Glimmer explained. “But he has always been very courteous, a total gentleman. But who is it?!” Bow rolled his eyes. 

“I’ve been talking to Perfuma lately aaand I think she might be throwing me some signs.” He said nervously. “Which would be really cool, because she is so amazing, but I still don’t know! It’s all still, eh, preliminary!”

“Aww, Bow! You have a crush!”

“How serious is it, Bowseph?”

“I just thought it might be cool if we did like a casual, kind of pen-pal thing, here and there, and...” Bow was distracted by something he saw, and went to the edge of the tower and squinted over the edge. 

“Don’t try to change the subject!” Catra teased. 

“Hang on is that--guys, come here! Is that Adora?”

“What?” They both said in unison, rushing to join him. They looked down over the shallow lagoon that the battle of Bright moon had taken place in. Beyond that was the Whispering woods. They soon spotted the white and red figure, limping, hobbling up to the distant shore with hesitation. Her yellow hair was loose around her shoulders, and one arm clutched around her torso to support a wound in her side. The other hand dragged the tip of the sword through the mud. She stopped for a moment and looked up, and they were finally able to see her face. 

“Adora!” Glimmer yelled in excitement, then teleported down to the lagoon, to the bottom of the tower they were on. But Catra looked harder, with concern. 

“Something is wrong.” She whispered. She and Bow ran for the staircase. 

When Catra and Bow caught up, Glimmer was also just getting up to her. By now it was obvious that something was wrong. She was torn to tatters, bleeding everywhere, but none of it new. It was all dried and crusty over her face and clothes. It had dripped from her head down into her eye while the other eye was swollen and purple, had poured out of the corner of her mouth and down her neck. There was blood on the swrod, almost covering it, and they could trace where it had dripped downwards. A whole sleeve of her jacket was gone, and her boots had lost their soles. There were scraps of cloth wrapped around her arms and legs like bandages, worn out beyond recognition over purpled skin. Her breath was heavy and worried, but shaking and weak. The way that she moved, it seemed like the weight of carrying her own body would suffocate her. She looked like a gaunt half-dead body, dragged up by imaginary strings and hobbling around like a marionette. 

“Adora, you’re back!” Glimmer tried to rush up to her, but Adora immediately put up a shaking hand to stop her, with a wild look in her eyes. 

“Wait! J-just wait... “ She rasped, then spit some blood and a fragment of a tooth into the water while she caught her breath. “Wait... tell--tell me som’thin’ that only Glimm’r would know.” Glimmer only froze, in hurt confusion. Her heart stopped for a half second in her chest painfully. Adora kept her arm outstretched to keep her distance the whole time in fear. “Som’thin’ you never told me before. That I wouldn’ know. Tell me somethin’ only the  _ real _ you would know!” She demanded. 

The three of them, their hearts sank. Catra knew that people would never ask that unless they had already been through hell. When somebody asks that, they can’t get any lower. 

“Adora, it’s me...” Glimmer said. 

“Tell me somthin’ on’y you would know, then!” She said frantically. She even backed away a few feet. She was so weak that she couldn’t even hold up the sword any more, and it splashed into the water. Her eyes were frantic and wild, in contrast to the weakness of her shaking, bleeding body. 

“Uhhm... Oh! One time when I was thirteen Renee dared me to put ketchup on my ice cream and I did it for ten bucks. It was strawberry because I thought that the fruit and the tomato would go good together. And then I threw up in the garden and my mom found out and Renee said that since I threw up I had to give the money back.” She started rambling anxiously. 

Adora’s eyes widened slowly with a bit of relief, but there was no light of happiness. There was no sign of recognition or belief, only some sort of quiet assurance. When Glimmer finished, Adora just sighed and fell to her knees in the water. Glimmer was near her in an instant.   
  


**Day 15, Continued.**

  
  
  


Adora sat hunched over in her bed in her own room after visiting the infirmary. She got cleaned and bandaged up, and now sat barefoot in sweatpants. Her whole torso was covered in white bandages, covering everything such that she didn’t need a shirt. Most of her arm was also covered in wrappings. There was a blanket over her shoulders, and she stared out the window. It was almost dinner time.

She stared out the window at the sky. It wasn’t longing, or thoughtful, or remorseful. It was only intentional and worried. She was looking for something. She was searching the sky for any mistakes, any glitches, and jumps or lights. She was waiting for the sky to open up and swallow her whole.

Just outside the room, behind Adora’s shut door, Glimmer, Bow, Catra, Angella, and Renee stood and talked in hushed whispers. 

“Just what kind of test was this?” Renee asked. 

“I don’t know, I don’t think even she knew before she went in.” Glimmer said.

“She said that it was a simulation, but that could mean virtually anything.” Catra said.

“What’s important is that she escaped eventually. We just have to help her recover.” Bow said.

“But it’s not just her body that’s hurt, it’s her mind.” Angella said with concern. “Perhaps even more so. She still doesn’t trust that she escaped, and keeps flinching at everything. Just earlier she called out Light Hope’s name to an empty room.”

Glimmer's thoughts were the same as Catra's, though neither of them could have expected to be thinking the same thing in their guilt. They should have rescued her. She told them to stay away but they should have helped. 

“Whatever happened clearly messed with her. It was supposed to be a test that would only take a few days.” Bow affirmed.

“I don’t care! I’m not letting her go back to that place again.” Glimmer put in. 

“We don’t know what Light Hope’s verdict was on her test.” Bow added. “So how do we know if she passed?”

“Who cares?” Catra asked. 

“We should care, because if it went badly enough, she might not be able to be She-Ra anymore.” Renee said. “Theoretically.”

“It doesn’t matter.” Angella asserted. “If we must continue without She-Ra, then we shall. I am more concerned about Adora first.”

“Well somebody needs to talk to her.” Catra said. “To get some sense into her. She needs to realize that she’s safe before she’ll be able to do anything else.”

Everyone looked at Glimmer, who was feeling overwhelmed already as it was. 

“Okay look, I’m going to talk to her.” She agreed. “Obviously. I’m worried about her. But you guys need to promise to give a little space for a while, okay?”

“Of course.” Angella nodded. “Please, be with her as much as she needs.” Then, turning to the other three, “We must be patient. Just try to go about your regular business until we know more. Glimmer, let us know if you need anything.”

While the others shuffled away behind the Queen, Glimmer took a few deep breaths to ready herself to talk to Adora again. Then she teleported in, past the door. 

The tell-tale jingle of her shimmering magic appeared before she did, and as soon as she could see, she saw that Adora was on her feet in a fighting stance, knife in hand. Her trusty pillow knife. Glimmer put up her hands.

“It’s okay, it’s just me.” She said calmly. Adora didn’t say anything, but relaxed slightly, enough that Glimmer could come and gently take the knife out of her hand and put it on the nightstand. 

She put her hands on Adora’s arms softly, feeling her skin where she could and smoothing down all the little hairs that were raised. Adora tried to slow down her panicked heart rate, and let herself be touched and viewed by her girlfriend. Glimmer’s eyes lingered over the torn up skin and spots of blood that oozed through. Then she trailed upward, to her uncovered shoulders, turned black and purple and yellow in different stages of bruising. Her neck was not wrapped, but had a large square bandage under her ear. Finally she rested her gaze on her face, which was sad and heartbroken. She had a cut on her lip, and more across her skin; her chin, under her eye, her cheekbone. There wasn’t much to be done about those small ones. 

Glimmer reached up and lightly brushed some of Adora’s hair aside, causing Adora’s view to lift from nowhere at the floor, up to Glimmer’s eyes. She looked down on the shorter girl, as she tried to read what she was thinking just from a sad look. 

“Uhm, sorry, about earlier.” Adora mumbled. “You know I trust you, I just, I had to make sure. I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay, Adora. It’s okay.” Glimmer soothed, while her thumb rubbed over the taller girl’s cheek. Adora leaned into the touch and closed her eyes, putting her own hand over Glimmer’s. She eased Adora back to sitting on the bed. “I really missed you. We all did, we were worried.”

“How long was I gone?”

“Today makes fifteen days.”

“Fifteen?” She asked incredulously, eyebrows quirking up. “I lost all track of time, I thought it was just a few days, I had no idea,”

“It’s okay, you’re here now.” Glimmer opened the drawer on the bedside table, and pulled out a hairbrush. Adora understood, and turned around to rest criss-cross in front of her girlfriend so that she could brush her hair, just like they liked to do before bed. Adora tried to relax as Glimmer started to part the matted, tangled hair. 

“So, what did I miss?”

Glimmer was relieved that she had asked, since she was certain that she couldn’t ask Adora to answer any of her questions yet. 

“Ah, well, let’s see. We had an easy battle that Catra and Scorpia arranged, zero killed on either side. They were just kids so it wasn’t much of a fight. But then Catra got stabbed, and she was being stupid about it,”

“Uh oh. The Wrath of Glimmer?” Glimmer chuckled.

“Pretty much. We had to drug her just to treat her, and we learned why we should never use magic on her.”

“Oh no, you guys used magic on Catra?” Adora turned to face Glimmer with urgent worry. The fight or flight was back in her eyes, and she looked ready to run down the halls right now to go find Catra.

“Don’t worry, we figured it out after a while.” Glimmer insisted, and Adora relaxed slightly, but not completely. “We talked about it. I wish that you were here to help, but we came to a compromise.” Adora relaxed a bit more. Glimmer continued to push the brush through the straw-colored hair. There was one lock that was shorter than the rest which was charred and black at the end. “She’s totally recovered now, though she insisted that if she got stabbed, then she gets to keep the knife.” Adora laughed. “Okay what else... Bow has a crush on Perfuma.”

“Really? I thought he only liked guys,”

“Honestly, he’s just a sweet kid who loves anyone with a good heart. Maybe that makes him and Perfuma perfect for each other.” Glimmer smiled. Some of the smoothness was returning to the usually rough and tangled hair. Adora herself was relaxing more and more, sliding into the bed as she slumped backwards towards her girlfriend, and her eyes looking to the window less frequently. 

“Other than that, it’s just been business as usual.” Glimmer continued. The more they talked, the more easily she was able to find the words. “Lenore wants a sword for her birthday, but Renee said no.”

“Wait, how old is she turning?”

“Uh she’s preteenish? So like ten, eleven, maybe twelve?”

“If she were in the horde, she would be getting live weapons training by that age!” Adora chuckled. “She should have had a standard issue regulation sword training ages ago. Maybe I’ll get her a knife for her birthday.”

“A knife!” Glimmer giggled. “Renee will have your head!”

“Hey if the kid wants to fight, better teach her how, right?” Adora shrugged. 

Glimmer ran her fingers through Adora’s hair, now all untangled and smooth, though she could still use a shower. One thing at a time.

“There. All done.” She whispered, but still ran her hands through her hair just so she could play with it. Adora slid down some more so that her head rested in Glimmer’s lap, and closed her eyes. She tried to steady her breaths. Glimmer twirled and combed some of Adora’s hair that she could access. Her eyes wandered down her body again as Adora turned more to her side.

Most of the visible wounds were only superficial, small scratches and burns and bruises that hardly amounted to much. Not only that but many of the injuries showed signs of healing and closing already, another indication of how long she had been away. Her real pain was the exhaustion of fighting for days. As such, the bandages didn’t do much, and were only applied to her more major wounds on her ribs and back. Her muscles faltered, her bones creaked, her stomach turned. Glimmer looked down her left arm, where all those small pains were visible. On her forearm, a perfectly geometric bruise, outlined in the same shape as the protective cuffs that She-Ra wore. They must have taken a beating when she was She-Ra, strong enough that it would hold over until her human form reverted back. Adora got hurt, but She-Ra rarely ever showed evidence of damage. She-ra could take a blast from a tank canon and shrug it off with no visible marks. For something to hurt She-Ra, not only that but for it to cross into Adora’s body, must have been stronger than anything they had faced on their own.

Adora noticed her fingers lingering over the purple edges of the bruise. She looked at her arm herself, holding it up and clenching and unclenching her fist a few times. 

“It, held over? From She-Ra to you?” Glimmer wasn’t sure if it was wise to ask, but her overwhelming concern for her girlfriend, no matter how strong she was, was threatening to force her over the edge into tears. Adora didn’t answer at first. She just looked at her injuries with a defeated, melancholy look. Glimmer’s stomach flipped and twisted to see how burnt out and apathetic Adora seemed about it all. 

“Adora... what happened in that temple.” Glimmer choked out. Adora hesitated, still wondering if she was out or not and if this was real and she could trust Glimmer. She took a deep breath as she decided to trust her instinct to trust Glimmer. She always felt safe, something that the temple tried to replicate, but it didn’t feel exactly the same.

“Light Hope told me that she wouldn’t be able to communicate with me again until after I finished the test. She was going to simulate the temple being attacked by the horde.” She started. She lowered her arm again, and then sat up so she could hug her knees to her chest, with her ankles crossed. She rested her head on her forearms while she looked out the window again, and Glimmer scooted in to hold her from behind. 

“Then, after hours of doing that test, it seemed like the simulation was glitching. The temple was actually under attack from the horde.”

“But the horde hasn’t been able to establish any movement in the whispering woods in weeks.” Glimmer thought to herself out loud. 

“That’s the thing. I left the temple to fight them, but I never really left. It was a second simulation within another simulation. Then I thought that I could just leave both and give up on the whole test, but Light Hope was able to simulate everything about that so I thought I was leaving but I never really did. I went through so many layers of temple simulations, running in and out, and mazes and puzzles and fights, after a while I wasn’t sure what was real and what wasn’t any more.” Adora closed in closer on herself. Glimmer pressed her head into the back of Adora’s shoulder reassuringly. “There were times where I was stranded in the wild and I wanted it to be a simulation so I could just ignore it and move out, but Light Hope wouldn’t respond. She made me see things, terrible things. I thought I escaped for the fourth time, but it was all fake again and I saw terrible battles where you and everyone else I love was killed.” Tears came to Adora’s eyes, and she didn’t try to hold them back. She was done trying. She was too tired to hold back anymore. “I thought it had to be a simulation but then Light Hope wouldn’t respond and I was terrified that it was real, and everyone was dead. Because I wasn’t there.” She cried. “Then it was all a trick, again. I thought that I had escaped and was living back at Bright Moon for days, but then everyone turned on me and I had to fight them and kill the people I loved, and they were trying to kill me and I was terrified that it was real, it all seemed so real... And I kept trying to escape, I just wanted to leave and go back to the real world. I just wanted to leave.”

“Oh, Adora...”

Adora shook her cries out--silently, as all cadets learn to do, and by now was simply second nature to Adora, and Catra as well, with no effort-- quivering in Glimmer’s arms as they sat on her bed. But she had to make herself keep talking. 

“I tried to escape so many times, I just wanted to go home, but it was fake and I thought it was real, or it was real and I was terrified that it was fake, and I couldn’t tell any more, I couldn’t tell reality from simulation anymore, she used my own memories to convince me it was real. I still don’t know! I still don’t know if I ever left, Light Hope won’t answer, I just wanted to leave, I don’t,” She collapsed into babbling and crying as Glimmer rocked her and rubbed her hands on Adora’s arms. 

“It’s okay Adora, you did it. You made it out, you’re safe. This is real, I’m real.” She insisted calmly. 

It all made sense now, why she would ask about something that she hadn’t told her before. Light Hope was able to access all of Adora’s memories, and re-create them. Who’s to say she wouldn’t use the details in those memories to make the simulation seem all the more real. She was probably able to use every single conversation that Glimmer and Adora had shared together so that the simulated Glimmer could convince Adora it was real, right before the horrors and the bloodbath. 

Adora started to calm down slightly, but she was still trapped in her own mind. She was unable to cry due simply to her fatigue, but she shook her head as the tears continued to trail down her face. 

“I fought so hard, I had to fight my way out every time, and I had to fight you and Catra and Shadow Weaver, She made me kill you, and Catra and everyone, and she made me think i had actually killed you and... and I had to fight my way out every time but it all happened again and again...” Her voice was raspy and ragged. 

“Sshh, it’s okay, Adora. You’re safe now. I’ve got you.”

One of the things that attracted Glimmer to Adora in the first place was the idea of how strong she was, how protective she could be to those close to her. Seeing her in action, pummeling through any obstacle and saving lives, made Glimmer feel some kind of way in her stomach about the warrior. But as they got closer the longer Adora stayed in Bright Moon after defecting, the more clear it became that it was something of a facade. In reality, it was Adora who was vulnerable and afraid and confused, who needed protection. And Glimmer was there to chase away the never ending parade of nightmares, the flashbacks, the fears that haunted this seemingly invincible woman. She was better taken care of when she was with Glimmer. And Glimmer grew into the protective position, finding herself more than ready to take whatever her love was dealing with. 

Now it was no different. Adora needed Glimmer to help her, to bring her back to reality just like when she had an intense nightmare. The only difference was that when Adora had grown used to going to Glimmer for relief, but now she was almost afraid of her, just like everyone else. She still couldn’t trust that the people here were real and not simulations, preying on her vulnerabilities. 

It was a long time before Adora ran out of tears and was too tired to shake in fear. Hours passed where Glimmer wasn’t sure if Adora was awake or asleep, until she would flinch at the slightest movement in the hallway. It was dark out when she was able to speak again.

By now they were lying down in Adora’s hard bed together, facing each other. Adora kept looking over Glimmer's shoulder at the window behind her, nervously watching the sky for glitches. 

“Adora, I wish I could prove to you how real this is.”

“I know...” Adora offered weakly. 

“I was so worried about you. I should have come to get you.”

“Well, I still would have been suspicious... Light Hope tricked me that way too...” 

“Have you had any rest in the last two weeks?”

“Even if I did, I’m not sure if it was real rest.” Adora admit. “I barely slept, barely ate. Sometimes I felt sick. It was too much fighting to rest. It was so constant.”

“You need to sleep.” Glimmer said softly. “Then food.” She moved to get up and report to the others on Adora’s condition, and to prepare a hearty meal. But Adora reached out for her hand.

“Don’t go.” She asked. Glimmer was already moving back into bed beside Adora.

“Of course.” Glimmer kissed Adora’s hand on the knuckles that were wrapped around her own hand. “I’ll be right here with you, the whole time.” She promised, pulling the blanket over both of them. 

  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I predicted that Light Hope was evil literally like season one. November 2018 I'm like "I do not trust you, blue lady" and it looks like I was RIGHT. Which is also why I wrote it into here ages ago. 
> 
> Also. Apparently a google doc will stop working around 160-200 thousand words on my device 😔 RIP. I already had to split it up into MANy documents, and this is still just in part two. So I gotta figure out how to keep adding to this without my computer dying. 
> 
> The next update will be a very special "Genre Episode" where they will attempt to deal with what just happened! Followed by some big events.

**Author's Note:**

> Full disclosure, I wanted this to be read as one big piece but that might be too much. So I'm still deciding how I want it to be split up. But it'll come, I'll get there. 
> 
> Also! I started working on another she-ra fanfic which is a vampires vs werewolves au, based on art by artofkace.tumblr.com you should check it out! But also I will be splitting my time between this n that, so no promises on updates for either in the future. 
> 
> As always, comment with your thoughts!


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